One of the many ways a crime can happen to your small business is if you get a fake bill. Sad to say, there isn’t much that can be done right away to help someone who gets fake money and then turns it in to follow the law. During an investigation, the government won’t replace your money with a real bill, so insurance policies are your best bet for getting your money back. If you don’t have insurance that covers getting fake money, your business will have to pay for the loss. Because of this, it is very important to have insurance so that your business doesn’t have to pay for losses caused by getting fake money by accident.
Someone gave me money that was not real
Nowadays many people are in possession of fake money as they can buy counterfeit money online. When a customer gives you fake money, you should not return the bill. Contact your local police department right away. The transaction is reported to the Secret Service by your local police department. If the person is still in the store when the transaction happens, try to keep them there by making small talk or having problems with the cash register until the police arrive. Do not try to stop the suspect physically or talk to them about the money. It’s possible that the customer got the bill by accident, but if they tried to pass it on purpose, they could be dangerous to you, your employees, and other customers in the store.
Getting proof after the bills are passed
If a fake bill isn’t noticed until after a transaction is done, law enforcement should be called right away. If you touched the bill, put it in a plastic bag or an envelope and write down the date and time you found it. If you aren’t holding the money, don’t touch the bill again. Instead, give it to the police so they can file it as evidence. Give the police any information you can remember about customers who paid with, say, a $100 bill. Keep any security footage from the store right away, and give the police the names and numbers of everyone who worked while the cash drawer was open. After law enforcement collects evidence at the scene, they will either send the U.S. Secret Service a paper copy of a counterfeit note report or use the U.S. Dollars website to tell them more about what happened. This step is usually done by people in law enforcement, bank tellers, and fraud investigators.
Policies for insurance and getting money back
After you report the theft to the police, look at your insurance policies to see if you can file a claim and get your money back. If a home-based business gets a fake bill, it may find that the transaction is covered by the homeowner’s policy. Make sure to double-check that the clause covers a business loss and not just getting a bad bill. Your business insurance policy may also cover theft, which pays you back for the money you lost. Get a copy of the police report about the accident and send it as soon as possible to your insurance company.
If a fake bill was given to your business as part of a crime, as opposed to a fake bill that was given to another victim by accident, finding the suspect may help you get your money back. Criminals can be forced to pay back the people they hurt by pleading or being found guilty and then being sentenced. Your company might be able to get back some or all of the money it lost in these transactions.
Seeing if something is real During an Exchange
To reduce losses, make plans to make it less likely that your business will accept a fake bill. You can limit the amount of money you will accept on a bill, use counterfeit detector pens or other similar tools, or hold team meetings to teach employees about security features on money, like watermarks. Create a rule that says workers have to move customer goods to their side of the counter until payment is received and change is given. This way, a customer can’t leave with any store goods until the bill has been checked and the transaction is finished.
Install security cameras in your stores as soon as you can afford to. Keep one camera on the customers at the cash register, and put more cameras in the parking lot to record details like license plates. When you get a fake bill, it will be easier for law enforcement to find the person who gave it to you. This makes it faster for you to get any possible restitution payments.
